Chiesa diruta

☀️ Images souvenir de ce concours qui m'a occupé ce début d'année :) 🎷

Sur des centaines de participants, ma proposition n'aura pas été retenue, néanmoins cela m'aura permis d'aborder la thématiques de la ré-utilisation des ruines ancestrales ⛪️ à l'abandon, passionnant! ( ✏️ et d'apprendre un nouveau logiciel de "dessin" de rendu aussi, à savoir Twinmotion O:-) )

Il fallait donc "convertir" cette église "Chiesa Diruta" en une salle de concert accessible l'été comme l'hiver. Donc tout à fait en lien avec le chant et le swing qui m'occupent à mes heures gagnées <3

☀️

Holala en revoyant les images, j'améliorerais tant de choses, tant graphique qu'au bâtiment... mais je vous montre quand même cet univers musicarchitectural qui m'a transportée pendant plusieurs mois ♪

✨

🥁

🎻

💃🕺

Merci à celles et ceux qui m'ont aidé et apporté conseil :)

Et 🎤 Viva Viva la musica! 🎼

🎷

🎸

🎺

🎹

Reuse The Fallen Church ⛪️

Chiesa Diruta, Grottole (Matera), Italy 🇮🇹

A competition project from www.reuseitaly.com

Mégane Piraux (BE) proposal, 12th March, 2021 ✏️

After one year of pandemic crisis, lock down, staying at home, social distancing and forbidden gatherings, 15 people at maximum are allowed in a closed space such as church only for praying. However concert halls are closed everywhere.

Crupet, Belgium, February 15, 2021. Q. D., a musician, brings his guitar, goes to church and put on a non-religious show for the audience made of 15 people, allowed to be pious but not allowed to be an audience. Police intervention makes it stop. At the same time there is the beginning of a citizen movement called ”still standing for culture”; they must get the government to understand the following : help the artists in difficulties during the worldwide pandemic and remind us that a lack of culture meeting is dangerous for society.

Nearly as the covid, Culture is worldwide. It is not only a show, it is also our patrimonial and historical traces, just as the ruins. At the heart of the town, the re-use of magnificent old buildings, that have not been used for a long time, makes the city center glow with a new radiance.

The streets

Seen from far away, the church is like a lighthouse which, together with the public space, leads to culture. There is a path which comes from the countryside and ascend toward the Grottole center. The walkers luckily found this place down the church to have a break with a cool drink, to rest, to sit and admire the valley.

A saxophonist plays in the alcove of the re-used ruin and people have space to dance in the street. By the way, all around the edifice, we find musicians, street theatres, jugglers, audiovisual oeuvres projected onto the wall and all kind of artworks and performances can be seen by passersby.

Thereby the church contributes to bring joyful life to the street. It becomes a socializing point where neighbours can come and have a laugh together. Then, they can enter the church: they found the new concert hall. The stroll around music continues inside…

The view

Inside the presence of many little secret spots to discover on a musical background surprises everybody. A vaulted room, a comfortable huge bench, galleries, … these places give unique and incongruous angles to observe shows, the landscape and architecture that take your breath away.

The construction reveals all its secrets to the artists, who can find hidden rooms or terraces where they can play music in front of panoramic view. Asymmetry and curves remind the acoustic and the movement, contrasting with the calm and stable walls.

The materials

The ancient bricks and coating of the ruin stay in place as a memory that tells us its story. The new walls are made of bricks also, but with bright color and enforced in a completely different way. A contemporary pattern to stand out the existing one while flirting with it.

Interior decoration design is really important to bring life to the building. This can bring warmth and life inside. Different materials are combined. Thick woolen yarn is used for the curtains and chairs. It gives an acoustical absorption and a feeling of softness. All the new architectural components (stairs, carpentries, floors,…) are generally covered by a gold-colored coating for brightness.

It will carry out some heritage-conservation techniques to make sure everything will survive in the future. Protect the top of the walls and restore what it had to be.

But the biggest issue of the re-use was to give a roof to the building.

The vibes

What if all the roofs were made of glass and a veil perforated with thousands of musical notes above? When the sun is there, he paints eighth notes and treble clefs everywhere.

The building is rather sober. The impressive effect will be given by the light. Because church architecture and light have always been in a love story. The sunlight gives a phantasmagoric ambiance. It immerses the visitor in an ephemeral, poetic, out-of-time world.

OUTRO

You walk quietly in a place where the new and the past are blended together. You hear a song nearby, but where is the musician? How to see him/her? Go explore and discover all the surprises on your path.

Architecture, as a part of the city, has the power to bring people together and help to answer the culture need. Grottole Chiesa Diruta has to continue to be a location for culture, not only for religion, but all kind of art, that leads to unexpected gatherings or eagerly awaited shows. It offers us a dreamlike scene, it becomes the place to be.